Touchscreen and Verizon Issues

My Droid 1 started to have screen issues about 4 weeks ago. I tried to ignore them at first. I've been rooted since this past spring, was running BBv5. The screen would either freeze, touching it would result in sporadic interaction / results, or it would start going "crazy" selecting things itself / scrolling by itself, and none of the home / back / menu / search buttons would work.

I decided to unroot, wipe, and revert back to stock to see if that helped. I followed the instructions for unrooting and got my phone back to stock. However the touchscreen problems persisted, so I took it in to Verizon today.
(note this is my work phone and it is almost unusable at this point)

The gentleman who "helped" me was one of the salespeople. I couldn't even get back to the techs in the back of the store. He said he knew exactly what the problem was, that every single person who had the screen issue was NOT running Advanced Task Killer, and that running ATK would solve my problems. I replied that ATK does absolutely nothing and is not needed as the OS handles everything very well on its own. He then proceeded to get into an argument about it and how all Verizon employees were trained to use ATK and I didn't know what I was talking about. I finally told him I'd just like to have the phone replaced when he wouldn't stop with the ATK line. He looked up my account and said sorry I was out of warranty, but even if I was in warranty it's not a "real problem" and they wouldn't replace it. He then said he saw I had insurance, but they would never cover my "so called issue".

Needless to say I was LIVID. I didn't even know what to say. I tried to reason with him about ATK but he would not listen. That was probably the first time in my 30 years I've gotten visibly angry about something. So I'm apparently stuck in limbo, out of warranty and apparently don't even have a real issue.

Any suggestions on either what the root of the problem is or what to do about getting another phone? Or am I simply out of luck on all fronts? This on top of my car having to be hauled to the shop this morning has not made for a fantastic day.

The store you went to isn't an actual verison store, their just a franchise store. Call the actual insurance holder. You can get it from the store and the verison help line, they will need your credit card number but they will overnight you a new phone. I had the same happen to me, trust it's that piece of **** store not verison. Good luck with your new phone.

i have an issue with my D2. this will happen when it is plugged in only. i was reading and it turns out it is something to do with the filter on the motorola chargers, and using a moto charger will fix the issue.

The store you went to isn't an actual verison store, their just a franchise store. Call the actual insurance holder. You can get it from the store and the verison help line, they will need your credit card number but they will overnight you a new phone. I had the same happen to me, trust it's that piece of **** store not verison. Good luck with your new phone.

Sent from my Droid using DroidForums App

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Yea, there's been a few people there that have always been pretty nice (or seemingly so), just happens that I never get them when I go in the store for anything. I am hesitant to call the insurance holder as it seems they only send out refurb units (from what I've read here and every other forum). I really can't afford to deal with a 50/50 chance of getting a phone with more issues. I posted this on Verizon's support forums and they're apparently having someone from CS contact me about the issue. Hopefully some good will come of that.

Interesting about the Arbo store. Always thought they were on the up and up. I will definitely never step foot in that store again.

i have an issue with my D2. this will happen when it is plugged in only. i was reading and it turns out it is something to do with the filter on the motorola chargers, and using a moto charger will fix the issue.

this may or may not apply to you, just thought id share

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Thanks for the info! However I'm using the charger that came with the Droid, so I think I'm okay in that department. Good to know about that issues though.

my droid does the SAME THING! it drives me crazy! i run UD, and every two weeks my phone flips out, the exact same thing you described. also the screen can be totally unresponsive. so i do a reset and reflash and it works for 2 weeks then i need to do it again. sometimes i reset to factory then reroot and flash. my phone gets so bad that it can take an hour to get to rom manager in my app drawer.

i am now running stock and it happened again..... WTF.... this is getting old... very tempted to call into the ins co to get a replacement but the Super user icon in my app drawer is still there. cant seem to get rid of it. plus the fact that jan 23rd i can upgrade....

Hundreds of people have been reporting the "crazy touch screen" issue on Droid forums across the web. Known as "Rogue Droid Syndrome," the problem is manifested by a touchscreen that develops a mind of its own and starts randomly launching apps, dialing phone numbers and stops responding to real touches from the user. Worse yet, there's no way to shut down the phone once it starts having a fit because it won't let you answer the prompt to shut down, which is presented on the touch screen. The only way to stop it is to rip the battery out before it can do more mischief. My phone dialed my boss's boss in the middle of the night before I could restrain it. The problem starts intermittently, but once it starts, it never goes away. It is much more severe and persistent than the transient loss in screen sensitivity that happens when you get perspiration on the screen and seems to get worse in dry, high static environments.

The issue seems to affect older Droids and once it starts, there is no way for a user to fix it. I had to return my Droid, which was fortunately, still under warranty. My research suggests that the root cause is using a defective charging cord. I'm no expert, but here's what I've been told.....the touch screen works by detecting the small electrical charge created by your fingers' galvanic skin response. Unfortunately, some third party or defective Motorola charging devices can cause your phone to develop an ambient electric charge, which interferes with the touch screen, making the screen think it's being randomly and repeatedly touched. The weak or inconsistent power delivery from the defective charging cord causes a component of the phone to become electrically polarized or to leak a static charge that interferes with the touch screen.

Once the phone develops this issue, there's no way to completely remove it. I've tried different batteries, charging cords and firmware upgrades. It is a persistent hardware issue. Motorola's position seems to be that it only happens to people who use off brand chargers for their Droid. However, I've only ever used Motorola chargers. I think my Motorola docking station charger had an issue with its USB plug, as it always felt loose and sometimes didn't make a complete connection. I suspect that's what eventually caused my phone to develop the issue. With my replacement Droid, I'm only using a straight Motorola Droid USB charging cord.

So, if your phone has developed Rogue Droid Syndrome, don't waste your time hunting for software or application issues. It is a hardware issue that requires a phone replacement. It is my understanding that Motorola is well aware of the issue but it hasn't been extremely widespread and isn't caused by a defect within the phone, per se.

Hundreds of people have been reporting the "crazy touch screen" issue on Droid forums across the web. Known as "Rogue Droid Syndrome," the problem is manifested by a touchscreen that develops a mind of its own and starts randomly launching apps, dialing phone numbers and stops responding to real touches from the user. Worse yet, there's no way to shut down the phone once it starts having a fit because it won't let you answer the prompt to shut down, which is presented on the touch screen. The only way to stop it is to rip the battery out before it can do more mischief. The problem starts intermittently, but once it starts, it never goes away.

The issue seems to affect older Droids and once it starts, there is no way for a user to fix it. I had to return my Droid, which was fortunately, still under warranty. My research suggests that the root cause is using a defective charging cord. I'm no expert, but here's what I've been told.....the touch screen works by detecting the small electrical charge created by your fingers' galvanic skin response. Unfortunately, some third party or defective Motorola charging devices can cause your phone to develop an ambient electric charge, which interferes with the touch screen, making the screen think it's being randomly and repeatedly touched. The weak or inconsistent power delivery from the defective cord causes a component of the phone to become electrically polarized or to leak a static charge that interferes with the touch screen.

Once the phone develops this issue, there's no way to completely remove it. I've tried different batteries, charging cords and firmware upgrades. It is a persistent hardware issue. Motorola's position seems to be that it only happens to people who use off brand chargers for their Droid. However, I've only ever used Motorola chargers. I think my Motorola docking station charger had an issue with its USB plug, as it always felt loose and sometimes didn't make a complete connection. I suspect that's what eventually caused my phone to develop the issue. With my replacement Droid, I'm only using a straight Motorola Droid USB charging cord.

So, if your phone has developed Rogue Droid Syndrome, don't waste your time hunting for software or application issues. It is a hardware issue that requires a phone replacement. It is my understanding that Motorola is well aware of the issue.